Over 1 in 7 Minnesotans who needed a Reliable internet connection during pandemic did not have one

Optical fibers. Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

by ALYSON CLARY | Feb. 22, 2022

Over the last decade, the state of Minnesota has prioritized making broadband internet accessible to every resident in the state, acknowledging the need for universal access in an increasingly digital world. The state’s goal, established through the Office of Broadband Development, is for all businesses and homes in Minnesota to have access to internet with at least 25 megabits per second download speed and 3 megabits per second upload speed by 2022 and 100 mbps/20 mbps by 2026.

This need for widespread internet access became even more pronounced during the pandemic as many people across the state shifted to working from home and children shifted from in-person to remote online learning.

According to our Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey, only half of those from households that included someone either working from home or attending school online reported a “very reliable” internet connection. One-third indicated that their internet connection is “somewhat reliable,” with the remainder split between “slightly reliable” (9%) and not at all reliable (6%).

Survey respondents were only asked about the reliability of their internet connection if they first answered affirmatively to the question, “In the past 12 months, has anyone in your household worked from home or attended school online?” Over half of all Minnesotans, 57%, reported that someone in their household worked from home or attended school online in the 12 months prior to answering the survey, including nearly three-quarters of BIPOC Minnesotans (Black, Indigenous and people of color; 72%). The larger proportion of BIPOC Minnesotans is due to the fact that nearly twice as many BIPOC Minnesotans (54%) as White Minnesotans (28%) reported that someone in their household attended school online in the previous year.  

Minnesotans who reported working from home tended to split along lines of income, educational attainment, location and political affiliation, rather than race and ethnicity. For example, those who had attained higher levels of education were more likely to report working from home than those with less education. Likewise, Minnesotans living in the Twin Cities reported working from home at significantly higher proportions than those in Greater Minnesota, and the same holds true for Democrats compared to Republicans and Independents.

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Although roughly equal proportions of BIPOC and White Minnesotans (85% and 84%, respectively) reported at least somewhat reliable access to the internet, a higher proportion of White Minnesotans (52%) reported having a “very reliable” internet connection, compared to BIPOC Minnesotans (42%). Only 31% of Hmong adults who needed an internet connection for work or school indicated having a “very reliable” connection.

Despite a large proportion of Minnesotans with reliable internet access, more than 1 in 7 Minnesotans who needed a reliable internet connection for work or school did not have one. A small but notable proportion of Asian (excluding Hmong) and White Minnesotans reported lacking an internet connection in their home.

Among those who needed the internet for work or school, a higher proportion of residents of the Twin Cities 7-country metro had a “very reliable” connection than is the case for residents of the remainder of the state. Somewhat surprisingly, a similar gap exists between those identifying as Democrats versus those identifying as either politically independent or Republican.

Even bigger gaps exist along lines of education and income. A majority of Minnesotans with at least a bachelor’s degree (61%) reported having a “very reliable” internet connection at home, compared to only 40% of those with some college and 37% of those with a high school degree or less. Similarly, a majority of those from households with annual incomes of at least $100,000 have “very reliable” internet access in their homes, compared to only 37% of those from households with annual incomes below $40,000.

According to the most recent data from Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, nearly 92% of the state has access to internet speeds that meet the state’s 2022 broadband goals, and nearly 89% meet the state’s 2026 broadband goals. When looking at just rural access, these percentages drop by at least 10 percentage points: 82% of rural households and businesses have access to internet speeds that meet the 2022 broadband goals, and only 75% meet the 2026 broadband goals.

But access is only one part of the equation when it comes to providing reliable internet service to every Minnesotan. In the Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband’s 2021 annual report, published just last month, the task force acknowledges that while significant portions of the state have access to high-speed internet, not everyone who has access can afford it.

Our data from the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey suggests a similar conclusion. Since there is a strong correlation between education level and income, the fact that fewer Minnesotans with less education report access to reliable internet than Minnesotans with more education implies that this difference hinges on the affordability of high-speed internet.

While the state has made great progress on overall access to broadband, there is still a lot of work to do—especially in terms of affordability and adoption—before every Minnesota household and business can regularly and reliably use the internet. The reliance on internet-based schooling during the pandemic has further underscored the equity concerns at the heart of the push toward universal broadband.